


Flash Fics for New Comics - Captain America #2

by msermesth_on_wednesdays (msermesth)



Series: Flash Fics for New Comics [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Angst, Flash Fic, Hopeful Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 15:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15888747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msermesth/pseuds/msermesth_on_wednesdays
Summary: Steve can't sleep.





	Flash Fics for New Comics - Captain America #2

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing around with the idea of writing reaction fics on Wednesdays to celebrate new comics day, and I finally started to do it. The whole point is to get these things out as quickly as possible, so I'm sorry for all the errors. 
> 
> Set after Captain America #2, but before Avengers #1.

He can’t sleep.

Even after a couple more rounds against the holo-trainer.

And a long hot bath.

And seven hours straight of infomercials.

And his third marathon.

He. Just. Can’t. Sleep.

It’s been two days since Sharon left and Steve’s stuck in a windowless limbo as he waits for a reason to get out of their apartment. He sits in the kitchen, hearing, but not listening to, the news. He must, because something might happen, something he can respond to.

Something to get him off his damn ass.

The lack of sleep sits heavy on his shoulders. It’s a different sort of exhaustion than Steve’s used to. Days without sleep have always been apart of his life.

Days–here, alone,  _thinking_ –are not.

He looks again at the phone on the counter, wishing for a call, but knowing she said  _deep undercover_.

Steve is not entirely sure when he stopped expecting calls from anyone else.

He picks up the phone and scrolls through the names of everyone who’s moved on since his return. He knows anyone would answer, gladly, but it makes guilt slither over his skin.

Steve feels unmoored, cut off from the anchor of service that kept him sane for so long. Questions keep repeating in his head, all of them just different shades of shameful.

This isn’t the first time the public has turned against him and it’s certainly not that first time the government has. Then why does this time feel so different?

Does he feel this way because the world has decided he isn’t needed anymore?

Or is because  _he’s_  decided that?

Steve sighs, puts down the phone, looks at the TV, and picks the phone up again.

He could call Tony.

Tony would answer the phone; out of obligation, yes, but not blindly. He wouldn’t let Steve get away with all of this self-pity.

Or Steve hopes, at least. They haven’t actually talked since Steve came back. There’s a friendship, somewhere in the space between them, that has sat untouched during all this time.

Oh sure, Tony has tried to mend it in his own way, slipping money into Steve accounts. And yes, Steve has done his part by leading the Avengers search when Tony went missing. But none of those things required looking each other in the eye.

 _This_  could be that thing.

Steve looks at the phone, purposely making himself scroll through all of his Avengers contacts.

And then he has an idea, a purpose, and maybe it’s the  _better_  thing.

He presses call and is surprised when the phone connects.

“Steven?” Thor answers, against all probability. At least he’s on Earth.

(He can’t explain why the idea of calling Tony feels like jumping off a building, but Thor is only like asking for a favor.) 

The news blares some bulletin about the latest Supreme Court case and Steve wishes he could hang up and sleep. This is probably the last thing he needs, the last thing the world wants from him, but the Avengers have always meant  _purpose_ , they have always meant  _home_.

A home they shared, and maybe a reason to look each other in the eyes again.

“Would you like to grab a drink?” he says, “I think it’s time we talked about the team.”

**Author's Note:**

> I write less flashier fics as [msermesth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/msermesth/pseuds/msermesth). When I'm not complaining about my life, I say things about comics on [twitter](https://twitter.com/msermesth). You can also read this fic on [tumblr](https://msermesth.tumblr.com/post/176534881059/set-after-captain-america-2018-2-but-before).


End file.
